Gaytonwood Golden and Labrador Retrievers

Your puppy will have been fed on Pedigree Chum Advance Formula puppy food to date. You will have been supplied with some of this to enable you to continue feeding him in this way. All my dogs are fed on this food and I have found no problems with it. I will have given you a ‘booklet’ from Pedigree and if you telephone the number on the booklet and register they will send you a voucher to purchase your next 3kg bag free of charge. They will also be able to advise you of your nearest stockist but usually it is available from most local suppliers and branches of Pets at Home.

It may be that you want to change your puppy’s diet because of a personal preference or other reason. I would recommend that for the first couple of weeks you stick to this food because there will be so many changes in the puppy's life it will take some time to adjust and a diet he is used to will help with this. A separate diet sheet will be supplied. When changing food spread the change over a few days in order for the new food to be incorporated slowly and it will mean that he will not so easily notice the change and it should not then upset his stomach. If you continue to use this complete food there is no need to give your puppy any supplements as everything he needs to enable him to grow are in it.

Your puppy will have been wormed on a fortnightly basis before you get him and I will have given you a certificate for this. You will need to worm him regularly at least every six months to ensure he is clear of worms, although every three months during his first year may be beneficial. The tablets can be purchased from your vet but I also carry stocks and I can get them cheaper than you would pay through the vet. There are some types of worming preparations available from pet shops but although they look better value in the long term they are not as efficient as those the vet will supply. If your puppy has worms, not only may they harm children if the eggs, which lie dormant in the ground, are swallowed but they take the goodness from the food your puppy eats and therefore do him harm as well. I would not advise worming your puppy in the same week as he gets an injection because I feel this might overload his system.

He will need to go to the vets for his injections and should not be taken outside your home and garden until he is fully vaccinated. Other dogs should not be encouraged to visit you, as he will be at risk of picking up any diseases they may carry.

Most vets are helpful and will advise you about their preference for the best age at which to start your vaccination routine. Mine is injecting puppies at 8 and 10 weeks but others do not start until the puppy is 10 weeks. Dogs should be boostered yearly in order to keep up protection, this being essential if your puppy will have to go into kennels whilst you are on holiday. There are some homeopathic vaccination routines available, which some boarding kennels accept, but I have no concrete information about them.

It is most important to register with a veterinary surgeon as soon as you get your puppy home. If there is an emergency you need to know that you have prepared a vet to take you on and administer treatment quickly. I will have insured your puppy for you for six weeks, which will cover any treatment during this time after an initial consultation cost. I recommend that people take out insurance for at least the puppies’ first year. This is the time when they will be prone to accidents because they have little fear and tend to be clumsy. Although the parents of the puppies have been checked for hereditary defects there is no guarantee that the puppy will be free from such problems. Latest figures show that the inherited factor of Hip Dysplasia is about 23% the rest being environmental. If there are going to be problems these will be noticed within the first six to nine months. Therefore being insured over this period will cover the cost of any treatment that may be needed. If you are sensible about not letting your puppies over exercise and do not over feed them there should be not problems.

First days

When you first get your puppy home let it take some time to get used to its new surroundings. It is suddenly away from its brothers and sisters, has taken its first car journey with strange people who do not smell and sound like the ones it has become used to and probably feels quite confused. If you take your puppy into the garden make sure that it completely escape proof as puppies seem to be able to find the smallest escape hole by some sort of ‘radar’ system. The puppy should have a place that is its own and that is where its bed should be. It should get used to being on its bed. The puppy will probably refuse to eat and will make a lot of fuss when left on its own at night for the first time. Do not go back to this puppy after you have said goodnight to it no matter how much it whimpers and no matter how difficult it may be. If you do you will be returning to it forever. If you leave it for the first three nights it will settle and realise that whimpering does not work. I recommend that you leave the puppy with a radio on low so that it hears the sounds of human voices as does not feel alone. Some people recommend a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel for warmth and comfort and others say leave a ticking clock there to simulate the mother's heart beat. It may be that there is a toy that your puppy enjoys that he can snuggle up to.

Exercise

There is a lot that is written about how many miles a day a dog needs to be fit. In the same way there is a lot written about how much training an Olympic athlete needs to do to win a gold medal. Neither sets of information are much use to the average dog owner and their new puppy. I do not give my puppies much exercise at all until they are twelve months old. They are full of energy and will get sufficient exercise by being loose around the garden all day, going on short road walks and attending some sort of training class weekly. The idea that a puppy needs two hours or ten miles a day is cruel and misguided. Excess exercise will lead to problems with hips and joints and fast exercise over uneven ground can make your puppy very lame. Playing in the garden, chasing a ball and road walking to socialise your puppy will be of great benefit and will help with training. A run on grass is fine if you are sure that your puppy will return or if on one of the extending leads if not. When out on exercise remember to take a bag or poop a scoop with you to clear up any mess your dog makes. There are now large fines in most parts of the country for not picking up after your dog and anyway no-one wants to see piles of dog mess wherever they go. Most open areas provide bins in which to deposit your bags. Babies nappy sacks are pleasant smelling and cheap and can easily be stuffed into pockets to take out with you. There are more sophisticated pieces of equipment on the market but I prefer to use a nappy sack or plastic bag, place my hand inside the bag, pick up the mess, fold the bag around it and tie the top off. Avoid using plastic bags that hold fruit and veg as they usually have air holes in them.

You need to decide now whether your puppy will be allowed onto the furniture, to go upstairs, to jump up you and all the other things it will try to do when it first gets to its new home. The reason to decide now is that by starting as you mean to continue will lay down the rules for you and the puppy. A little bundle of joy jumping up you now is different to a large, full grown, boisterous, wet dirty Golden Retriever jumping up at you when you are in your best clothes. Lessons learned now will stay with your dog for the rest of its life. Changing these rules later is hard, as you have to retrain your dog.

Once you have decided on the rules you must ensure that the puppy obeys you. I have found that the word 'no' is enough and the shock of this will stop them from doing whatever it was they were doing. You can then give them a toy or treat which will totally distract them from their bad behaviour. These dogs are retrievers and will take every opportunity to carry something around in their mouths. They are not able to distinguish between your best shoes and an old pair. They also only ever seem to chew one shoe from each pair you own, usual the newest and most expensive. If you want your dog to retrieve in any competitive form you must ensure that you do not scold your dog for this behaviour. To rescue your possession do not chase the puppy around the garden to grab the article, but run away from puppy and get him to follow you and then take the article gently from his mouth asking him to 'leave.' You can then offer him one of his own toys in exchange. The same action should be taken to get your dog to come when called. By running away you will encourage the dog to follow you and then he should be praised when he responds – this can be with a small titbit or just a fuss. This will teach him that to come to you is a good thing.

I always insist that puppies should allow me to take articles from their mouths, let me touch them all over and groom them, look at their feet and in their mouths and they should not be possessive over toys, food, etc. I start this from the moment they arrive home. (It will actually have been started whilst the puppy is with me as they will be used to being handled, having their feet trimmed and being groomed) If the puppy growls or is possessive then you insist that you complete what you are doing and tell the puppy 'No’. Make a fuss of him when you have completed the task. If your puppy learns that if he growls he gets his own way it becomes a habit and one that is difficult to break. For this reason you should be the one who controls these sorts of actions and not children who are easily influenced by a wilful puppy. You should not have to resort to smacking your puppy; a harsh voice should be enough to discourage him. If he is really naughty he should be shaken gently by being grabbed by the loose skin around his neck and told 'no' at the same time. This will usually not need to be repeated.

House Training

House training your puppy will take some time depending on how much effort you put in. Do not expect him to be clean until around the age of five months. When you first get him home put him out into the garden each time he wakes, after each meal and after he has been playing. You will learn to recognise the signs that he is going to 'perform'. (He will start to walk around with his nose to the ground, looking for the perfect place to go.) At that moment, you should pick him up and take him outside and then stay with him until he 'performs' and then praise him when he does. You can give a command whilst he does it and he will soon learn to 'perform' on command. If you do not do it straight away he will have completed the job before you get him outside! Mine all respond to 'Have a wee' but some people prefer the more delicate 'Be clean.' The command is immaterial but you need to be consistent. It is a real bonus having a dog that will 'perform' on command as many places have 'dog loos' and it is a bonus to be able to go there and have your dog use the facilities. The more effort you put in the more quickly you dog will be clean.

There are other commands that you need to teach your dog just to make him a good companion. I insist my dogs respond to the following: -

Sit

Lie down

Come when I call

Walk to heel

Stay where told for short periods

Allow me to remove articles from their mouths

Wait whilst I put their food bowl down and only eat when I allow them to

Wait in the car whilst I attach a lead to their collar.

Allow me to inspect their ears, feet, teeth and anywhere else I feel necessary

Locally, in Northampton, the training clubs I recommend are The Golden Retriever Training Club, which meets on a Tuesday night at St James’ Community Centre, Northampton from 7pm. This is a small friendly club for all breeds of Retriever but in the main there are goldens there. On Thursday nights there is obedience training at Cogenhoe Village Hall, Cogenhoe for all breeds with Northampton Dog Training Club. Their classes start about 7pm. If you want to show your dog, ringcraft is held at Cogenhoe on Friday’s with the K9’s Club, starting at 7.30-8pm and on Wednesday’s at Roade Community Centre starting about 8pm.

Children and puppies mix very well as long as it is remembered that they need time away from each other. Puppies are energetic and full of fun but easily become overexcited and over tired. This is when accidents happen. Children should be discouraged from carrying the puppy at all. Puppies are an awkward shape and they wriggle and are easily dropped. The puppy I supply is guaranteed to be able to walk long before it comes to live with you and therefore should be encouraged to develop this skill. Puppies can break their limbs as easily as children can. If children as encouraged to cuddle the puppy whilst sitting on the floor the experience will be pleasurable for both of them and will ensure neither is harmed by the experience. Puppies will automatically try to lick children's faces and ears and bites on ears from very sharp teeth hurt. The puppy may have eaten or licked anything, so should not really be encouraged to lick people's faces.

Both puppy and child should be encouraged to play for short periods and then rest away from each other. This will make sure that their time together is fun. The puppy needs somewhere where he can be away from everyone and rest in peace. I suggest a cage is the ideal. The door can be left open all day and the puppy can choose whether to go in or not. At night or when you leave him, he can be shut in there and you are reassured knowing he cannot get into trouble and trouble cannot get him. I never leave a collar on a puppy whilst he is in cage in case he gets caught up and hangs himself. This is his bed and he will take his toys there. This will then be the place where you can find all those items that have gone ‘missing’ since his arrival!

Remember that many of the items that we have around the home can be poisonous if your puppy eats them.

The obvious things that you would keep away from small children such as bleach, polishes, toilet cleaners, Brillo pads and other cleaning products are things that spring to mind. Puppies will also chew cigarette ends from ashtrays and tobacco can be poisonous. Dogs can also die from ingesting some weed killers, slug pellets and other garden products. Check labels before buying and using. The garage may be another source of poisons such as antifreeze, oil or petrol. Rat and mice poison especially those containing Warfarin are dangerous. Some plants are poisonous if eaten and bee and wasp stings can cause anaphalatic shock in puppies as in humans.

One of the most dangerous substances your dog can eat is chocolate meant for humans, especially plain chocolate. Chocolate that has been developed for dogs will not cause harm unless eaten in enormous quantities.

If you wish to breed from your dog it should be checked for the hereditary diseases hip dysplasia, OCD and eye problems when it is over a year old. It should only be bred from if it has clear eyes and the hip score is near to the breed average of 20 at the moment in Golden Retrievers and is clear of OCD. I have enclosed information from the BVA that gives advice about these problems and how the system works. The parents of your puppy have been checked and therefore I have done all that is possible to ensure you a healthy dog but there are no guarantees. Bitches should not be bred from before the age of eighteen months and should be given time to 'recover' between litters.

All the puppies I breed have their registration papers endorsed with 'Progeny not eligible for registration.' This endorsement will be lifted by me when I have been shown their BVA hip and elbow score sheet and it is average or below and clear eye certificates. This ensures that people are only breeding from stock that is more likely to produce puppies free from the hereditary diseases and therefore we may get to the point where these diseases do not exist.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need advice, information or a chat. I am always pleased to hear how the puppies I have bred are getting on and am delighted to hear of any success or otherwise you have with training. I will always help with trimming or nail clipping and offer other help when I can. I would rather be telephoned twenty times to help with little problems before they grow into large ones but will help out in any way I can at any point. I also appreciate being told of any problems you are having, as well as the good news, or otherwise I cannot help.

There are many good books available about this lovely breed and my own personal favourites are the Michael Twist book The Golden Retriever and Lyn Anderson's book A Companion Guide to the Golden Retriever. There are many other books around about the breed and the Doglopaedia and the Book of the Bitch are both excellent for all round information.

When looking at books I prefer to buy and use the ones written in this country because the pictures are more relevant. The American Golden Retriever looks very different and the information about training and competing is different. To check, just look at the dogs named in the photos and it will give you an idea. (Apologies to my American puppy owners!)

Websites that may be of use:

When feeding your puppy put down the food bowl and let him eat it. When he stops and walks away from it remove the bowl and discard any leftovers. Puppies, like people, vary in their eating habits. Some are greedy and eat everything offered and some are choosy. Dogs do not need a variety of foods to keep them happy. They will be quite content with one type of food in fact; variety is likely to lead to all sorts of problems. This puppy has been reared on Pedigree Advance Formula complete food. Pedigree Petfoods spend vast amounts of money in research and provide foods that do not need anything adding to it. Whilst your puppy is growing it needs to have exactly the right balance of foods to ensure that it grows correctly. As this puppy is being fed a complete food you need to ensure that there is a supply of fresh water available at all times.

7 weeks to 5 months

Measure out the food for the puppy for the day and split it into three meals evenly spaced to suit your lifestyle. There is no need to make any additions to this food but if the puppy refuses food for more than one day try tempting him with a little tuna, cottage cheese, yoghurt or chicken mixed into his Formula. The danger is that he may come to refuse to eat unless something is added to it. If he is really fussy it may be worth adding half a tin of dog food to each meal. As he gets older you may decide that it is easier to feed larger quantities less often but it is usually advisable to keep to two meals a day for the first year.

At the moment your puppy should be given about 200 grams of food a day. (Approx. Two mugs full) soaked with boiling water and then fed when cold. This can be done at the beginning of the day and fed at each mealtime, covering up the food between feeds or prepared at each meal. This quantity should be increased as the puppy needs it but beware - some puppies will eat however much you put down for them and excess weight on the puppy is to be avoided. The way I judge this is that if I look at him from above he should not look like a barrel, but should have a bit of a waist. For the less greedy dogs, if he is not eating up all his food then he is getting plenty. If he eats it all and then looks for more it may need increasing but proceed with caution. At some point your puppy may prefer to eat this food unsoaked, this may be when he starts to teeth. I am happy to change to this but it is imperative that he always has clean fresh water.

As the puppy reaches five months it will need to be changed to a Junior food, the one I use is Pedigree Advance Formula Junior. When changing food do it gradually over a few days starting with small amounts of the new food and increasing this whilst decreasing the old food. I continue to feed this twice a day until the puppy is a year old when I change to feeding an Adult Formula food. The differences are in the varying amounts of protein, carbohydrate and fats in each formula to give the puppy what it needs at different stages in its life.

To judge the weight of your puppy you should look at his shape from above and after his ribcage you should be able to see that his body should go in slightly. If his waist is a continuous straight line you have got him a little overweight. When you feel him you should not be able to feel the ribs individually or see them but they should be able to be felt when running your hands down his sides. This is difficult to describe on paper but I will show you one of my dogs to give you an idea of what he should look like. If you are concerned about his weight bring him to see me and I will tell you if you have the right amount of weight on him.

Dogs love treats and you must remember to take into account how many treats you are giving to your dog and whether you should take the equivalent amount of food from his daily ration. If you are feeding one chew stick each day it is not going to make a difference but if you start to increase this you should consider whether cutting his balanced food or treats is the way to deal with this. My suggestion is that if you consider cutting out some of your dog's food you are over doing the treats. If you use titbits for training use some of his food ration. He will love it and you guarantee his food intake is not increasing.

The only bones your dog should have are either deep fried marrowbones or smoked bones bought from the pet stores. Any bones may give your puppy diarrhoea and if this is the case you should not give them to him. Some dogs tolerate them better than others. I also give my dogs deep fried pig’s ears and hooves occasionally for a treat. Again this should be an occasional treat and not part of the standard diet.

A subject I am expert on. (Ask Andy!)

When you first get your puppy you can spend lots of money buying him the latest toys and gadgets. Just like a child he will prefer the box they came in!

To start with you will need a collar and a lead. The collar should have a tag attached with your name and address and phone number on it. Don’t buy an expensive one, as you will need to change the size a couple of times before he is fully-grown. When he is an adult you can buy the nice leather one with diamonds encrusted on it!

You will need at least two bowls. One should be heavy for water so that it cannot be knocked over and the other can be metal or plastic for food. I also have dog cutlery that is not used by the rest of the family.

You can buy toys for your puppy and the ones I prefer are those that cannot be swallowed or lodged in the mouth. Squeaky toys will drive you mad and the puppy may eat the squeaker! They need a bed, which can be a cardboard box with some bedding in it. If you spend a lot of money on a nice basket the puppy will probably chew it at the 16 week stage when he is changing his teeth. Also if it fits him now it won’t for long. If you buy one to last him until he is full-grown he will get lost in it now.

A cage or crate is a good idea for when he needs some time alone to sleep. If in a cage do not leave a collar on him in case he gets it hooked on the bars and strangles himself.

The most important thing is to enjoy your puppy. Don’t get too worried about doing the right thing and not enjoy being with them. Also remember that I am really good at giving this advice and instructions on what you should or should not do. But I have had the experience of owning and breeding a number of dogs (and that’s not counting the progeny of my stud dogs and their next generations who ask for advice) and I have made some big mistakes in my time. This information is to help you avoid some of the mistakes I have made. I’m sure both you and I will continue making mistakes so long as we are involved with dogs.

I love being with mine as you may have noticed and when I am not at home or work I am usually with at least one of the dogs. If I win the lottery I will be with them full time – here’s hoping. If yours gives you as much pleasure as mine do me, then I will feel I have done the best for them that I could have done.

I will be here for help and advice as long as you need it and hope that we can keep in touch.